August 2014

On Sunday in Apia, the capital of Samoa, I saw the results of the World Bank Group’s work with coastal communities that were devastated by the 2009 tsunami and by Cyclone Evan in 2012. Working with the Samoan government and partners, we built coastal roads and a new system of access roads that leads into the hills away from the seashore. Many families rebuilt their homes in the hills, and the new road system helps bind those new households together as well as providing safe escape routes should a tsunami or major storm hit the coast again.

The hard infrastructure construction is interesting; the community conversations about next steps for protecting the coastlines are even more so. The government is launching a series of community consultations that will bring together village mayors, women leaders, government agencies, and NGOs to decide how best to climate-proof their coastlines. The communities are set to decide if sea walls or mangrove plantations will best protect their land and livelihood.

I’m in Apia with a team from across the IFC and the World Bank to represent the World Bank Group at the 3rd UN Conference for Small Island Developing States and took the opportunity to learn more about climate and disaster risk management at the community level.

For island nations, the small size of their land and their economies comes with a set of unique vulnerabilities that makes climate change a major determinant of their ability to thrive and in some cases even survive.

Whether you'll be attending the upcoming World Water Week in person or following online, there's a lot to look forward to this year. This year's theme focuses on Energy and Water and along with Sustainable Energy for All (SE4ALL) and the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), The World Bank Group is excited to join as a collaborating partner.

Climate change presents serious and growing risks to the global economic system, with a number of recent studies showing the impact that climate change is already having on livelihoods and business models. For example, extreme weather, which can be exacerbated by climate change, caused economic losses of US$2.6 trillion from 1980 to 2012.

Addressing these risks is an economic and societal imperative. At the same time, it presents opportunities. Climate-smart investments in efficient, clean infrastructure, clean energy, resilient agriculture, and water resources offer stable, attractive returns for investors and communities when the conditions are right.

This week, I was in Lima at the Peruvian government’s Climate Finance Week and found many reasons to be optimistic that we can turn the climate challenge into an economic opportunity. This blog post shares some key themes that I took away from the event.

How can a development program work with other actors in a market to provide a product or service? How can we segment a market or use subsidy more effectively?

Social marketing asks questions like these to determine what types of media to use, how to allocate resources, and what the mix and schedule of marketing strategies should be in order to influence how individuals interact with and respond to products and services. It seeks to inform the delivery of competition-sensitive and segmented social change programs.

Rebecca Firestone, a social epidemiologist at PSI with area specialties in sexual and reproductive health and non-communicable diseases, speaks to us about the importance of designing programs that do not just operate in a market but which actively facilitate the market. Ultimately, she says, the goal is to ensure "equitable access to products and services that are going to help people lead healthier lives."

In Myanmar, where the economy is opening up, PSI is working to ensure that the commercial market for condoms is allowed to grow while also finding avenues to deliver condoms to those people who cannot afford them on their own.

The risks created by climate change are well known. Regardless of political views, when the majority of respected and leading science institutions say that climate change is happening, I believe that we have a problem.

From a young person’s perspective, I do not want to inherit a world that is torn apart by an issue that could have been minimized if we all took action. I don’t want a world that is destroyed by inaction and pointless bickering. If we continue to do nothing, or not enough, we will all be living in a world that could have been prevented. Inaction will tear our world apart.

Seven countries in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region --Egypt, Tunisia, Iran, Lebanon, Jordan, Yemen and Libya (MENA 7)--are facing similar economic problems: i) volatile growth that has remained significantly below potential; ii) limited fiscal space resulting from rising budget deficits, public debt and declining foreign reserves that have reduced savings available for public and private investment; and iii) a weak private sector that is far from becoming a driver of growth and creator of jobs.

Foreign students who attend U.S. colleges and universities on F-1 visas bring billions of dollars each year to local economies. In order for their economic benefit to be realized through increased local jobs and investment, however, regional leaders need to capitalize on their connections to fast-growing foreign markets. This is the key finding of a new Brookings report I released today.

At its best, sport possesses the power to bring out the best of the human spirit, particularly in moments when athletes display remarkable teamwork and sportsmanship. By affirming shared aspirations, religion and sport share the profound capacity to bring people together across the boundaries of race, nationality, income, and more.

In this week’s links, we continue to highlight the global #Ebola response, and a new take on the “ice bucket challenge” from India – the rice bucket challenge. Each Friday, we share a selection of global health Tweets, infographics, blog posts, videos and more. Follow us @worldbankhealth.